Delaware Gov. John Carney spent much of the day Friday talking about the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

About 100-150 people gathered for a rally in front of the offices of Delaware Sens. Tom Carper and Chris Coons to call on both to back a clean DREAM Act before marching to the governor’s office, where Carney expressed support for DACA.

It was in response to President Donald Trump’s order to revoke DACA. Carper and Coons both have expressed strong support for DACA and for a DREAM Act that would allow children of undocumented immigrants to continue to build lives in this country.

Carney, too, has backed the effort and on Friday greeted those in the rally with words of support.

“I am confident there is plenty of support to pass a Dream Act if leadership allows it to come to the floor,” Carney said. “The action President Trump has taken to rescind the DACA program is not an answer to our nation’s ongoing need for permanent and comprehensive immigration reform.”

Gov. Carney earlier expressed his support while attending a luncheon at Delaware State University, where he met with DACA students. He said he was impressed with the students and their drive.

“Delaware State University has been an institution of dreamers since its inception and these students should be able to continue that,” Carney said.

About 50 dreamers from DSU, Wilmington and other parts of the state held up signs in support of the Dream Act and marched down Loockerman Street chanting about immigrant rights and the need for legislators to back a new Dream Act.

U.S. Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester attended the rally and made the trek to the Tatnall Building near the Legislative Mall. She fired up the crowd with words of support.

“This is our time to pull together as a country and a state,” she said. “I stand with you.”

Buy Photo

Milka Castillo, a freshman at Delaware State University and supporter of the 2017 Dream Act, holds a sign during a rally outside the office of Sen. Tom Carper in Dover.(Photo: Jason Minto/The News Journal)

While Carper and Coons could not attend the rally, Dreamers read their remarks during the rally in front of their offices.

Since 2012, DACA has allowed hundreds of thousands of young people to live, study and work in the United States, and to become stable and even more productive members of their communities, without fear that they could be arrested and placed in deportation proceedings at any moment.

A number of Congressional members have come forward since this week’s announcement to declare their support for a permanent legislative solution for Dreamers.

According to the Delaware Civil rights Coalition (DCRC), the District of Columbia and 15 states, including Delaware and Pennsylvania, have joined a lawsuit against the federal policy seeking its reversal.

Friday’s rally and procession was led by the DCRC and Delaware Alliance for Community Advancement. More than 1,000 DACA recipients live in Delaware, and ending the program would cost the state nearly $90 million, according to estimates.

Carney joined 10 other governors on Thursday in sending a letter to Congressional leaders, urging Congress to pass legislation that will allow young adults subject to the DACA program to remain in the United States.

Here are excerpts from that letter:

“The nearly 800,000 DACA-recipients, who are currently working in the United States or attending a university or college, should not be penalized for the gridlock in Washington that has blocked real solutions from moving forward. They are hard-working individuals who are contributing to their communities, paying taxes, and in, in many cases, even serving in the U.S. military.

“Rescinding DACA will not only put these young people in limbo, it will also harm businesses in our states who have hired, trained and invested in them…

“We strongly urge you to work together to take immediate action to ensure that these young people can continue to live, work and contribute to the country they have called home for most of their lives.”

Buy Photo

Close to 150 people walk down Loockerman Street in downtown Dover during a rally in support for DACA and a new Dreamers Act. The group ended up in front of Gov. John Carney's office to hear him give a message of support.(Photo: Jerry Smith/The News Journal)

The Dover rally mirrored scores of other protests around the country, including school walkouts, occupation of Congressional offices, vigils and civil disobedience.

On Wednesday, groups across Pennsylvania staged sit-ins at the offices of more than a dozen senators and representatives. Similar protests took place at the offices of New Jersey representatives, according to DCRC release.

Reach Jerry Smith at jsmith17@delawareonline.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JerrySmithTNJ.